The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have opened vast new global marketplaces and opportunities for companies, organizations, institutions and individuals to distribute and obtain information and to interact verbally and visually with others, virtually on a world-wide basis. By employing the Internet and WWW, companies and groups of all sizes and individuals may have, in effect, a world-wide market in which to distribute information, products and services using the Internet or WWW (including, but not limited to, programs, movies, photographs, and other information that can be transmitted over the Internet or WWW).
However, such a geographically expansive marketplace can be problematic for contexts in which the information, products or services are intended for a particular geographic area or location. Typical web site operators have no control over or knowledge of the geographic area or location of a user accessing the web site and, thus, no control over the area or location at which its web site content may be read, viewed or otherwise downloaded. Similarly, typical Internet or web users have no control over or knowledge of the geographic area or location of the web site's operator server from which the web site content is read, viewed or otherwise downloaded.
Consider, for example, a company or individual involved in the business of selling a product or service, but which is constrained under statute or contract to a limited geographic sales region. In one representative example, a software company contracts with various software distribution companies to sell its software in specified sales regions, wherein each distributor is provided a sales region and, under the terms of the contract, is not allowed to sell the software outside of the region. A distribution company may desire to employ the Internet or WWW as a distribution channel, but would need to limit sales (and access to the distributed software) to only those Internet users (customers) that are located within the region assigned to that company.
As another example, consider a company or individual in the business of providing a lottery or other game in which a fee is required to play and the player is provided with a chance to win money or prizes. Under many legal jurisdictions (which can also be defined in terms of geographic areas), such lotteries and games may be illegal or otherwise limited by gambling statutes, rules or regulations. Again, the company or individual may desire to offer the lottery or game service over the Internet or WWW, but also avoid potential legal liability for offering such services to Internet users that are located in a geographic region of an adverse legal jurisdiction.
As yet another example, consider a company, organization or individual involved in distributing information having a content that is politically or ethically sensitive in certain geographic regions, but not other geographic regions. Again, the company, organization or individual may desire to provide the information over the Internet but, for political, ethical or legal reasons, may also desire to limit the accessibility to the information to certain geographic regions.
Thus, in a number of contexts, there is a need in the industry for a system by which a provider of a service or product on the Internet may readily limit access to the product or service, based on the geographic region in which the user requesting the product or service is located.